- This article is about the city and federal state in Austria. For other places or things called Vienna, see Vienna (disambiguation).
Vienna (German: Wien [viːn]) is the capital of Austria, and also one of Austria's nine federal states (Bundesland Wien). Situated on both sides of the river Danube, Vienna is 40 kilometres from the Slovakian border, and 50 kilometres from the Slovakian capital, Bratislava. Vienna is surrounded by the Austrian federal state of Lower Austria. With a population of about 1.6 million, Vienna is the largest city and the cultural and political centre of Austria.
The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), as well as many other international institutions and companies, are located in Vienna.
History
Main article: History of Vienna
Vienna was originally a Celtic city founded around 500 BC. In 15 BC, it became a frontier city ("Vindobona") guarding the Roman Empire against the German tribes to the north. In the Middle Ages, it became the home of the Babenberg and, later, the Habsburg dynasties and through the latter the capital of the Holy Roman Empire and later the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Ottoman Turkish invasions of Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries were stopped two times in total at Vienna. See the Battle of Vienna (1683). In 1815, Vienna was the site of the Congress of Vienna which redrew national boundaries in Europe after the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte at the Waterloo.
During the Cold War, Vienna was a hotbed of international espionage owning to its location in neutral Austria, between the Western and Eastern blocs.
Other famous Viennese features include the Lipizzaner stallions of the Spanish Riding School, the Vienna Boys' Choir (Wiener Sängerknaben), Wiener Schnitzel, Sachertorte, and various pastries. Viennese cafes claim to have invented the process of filtering coffee from the captured baggage after the second Turkish siege of 1683.
Historical population The population of Vienna increased sharply during the Austro-Hungarian period (1867-1918), when there was a lot of immigration from other parts of the country. However, after World War I, a lot of Czechs returned to their ancestral country, which resulted in a decline in the population. Following the immigration at that time, about one third of the population of Vienna has a Slavic or Hungarian family name.
As can be seen, the population gradually declined up to the 1980s.
1800: 231,900 inhabitants
1830: 338,700
1850: 446,400
1880: 724,800
1900: 1,769,137
1910: 2,083,630
1923: 1,918,720
1934: 1,935,881
1939: 1,770,938
1951: 1,616,125
1961: 1,627,566
1971: 1,619,885
1981: 1,531,346
1991: 1,539,848
2001: 1,550,123
2004 (estim.): 1.60 million.
Districts UN building in Vienna, with Vienna International Center in front (which does not belong to the UN) - picture taken from TV tower in nearby park The city itself is composed of 23 districts (Bezirke), which although they all have their own names are numbered for the sake of convenience. Legally, they are not districts in the sense of administrative bodies with explicit powers (such as the districts in the other Austrian states, but mere subdivisions of the city administration. However, there are election on the district level, which gives the representatives of the districts some political clout (e.g. in matters of planning, traffic etc.). - Innere Stadt (city centre)
- Leopoldstadt
- Landstraße
- Wieden
- Margareten
- Mariahilf
- Neubau
- Josefstadt
- Alsergrund
- Favoriten
- Simmering
- Meidling
- Hietzing
- Penzing
- Rudolfsheim-Fünfhaus (see [1] (http://www.fuenfzehn.at/))
- Ottakring
- Hernals
- Währing
- Döbling
- Brigittenau
- Floridsdorf
- Donaustadt
- Liesing
By looking at the postal code it can be determined in which district a given address is located; 1XXA - 1 denotes Vienna, XX the district number (if it is a single digit then with a leading zero), A is the number of the post office (irrelevant in this case, usually zero). Example: 1070 for Neubau.
Religions Vienna is the seat of the Viennese archdiocese, and its acting Archbishop is Cardinal Christoph Schönborn. The religions of the Viennese resident population is devided according to the 2001 census as follows:
Culture
Theatre and opera - To be translated from here (http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wien#Theater_.26_Oper)
Museums - To be translated from here (http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wien#Museen)
In the Hofburg, the Sisi Museum allows visitors to see the emperor's apartments as well as the silver chamber. Directly opposite the Hofburg, is the Kunsthistorisches Museum (along with Vienna's Natural History Museum) that houses multple paintings by the old masters.
Architecture - To be translated from here (http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wien#Architektur)
There are buildings all architectural styles in Vienna, from the Romanesque Ruprechtskirche to the Baroque Karlskirche, and classicist buildings all the way to modern architecture. Likewise, art nouveau left many architectural traces in Vienna, such as The Secession, Karlsplatz Metropolitan Railway Station, and the church at Steinhof by Otto Wagner rank among the best known examples of art nouveau in the world.
Other culture Between Michaelerplatz and Josefsplatz is the Spanish Riding School. It is a famous equestrian school. In terms of folk dancing, the Viennese Kathreintanz is the most important.
Education The "Sezession" building. (See also the Austrian € 0.50 coin Vienna is also Austria's main center of education and home to many universities, professional colleges and gymnasiums.
Universities
Transportation 12 Danube bridges connect the city, which is divided by the Danube and the Danube Canal.
Public transporation Vienna has a large public transportation network. - Vienna S-Bahn
- Vienna U-Bahn
- Karlsplatz Metropolitan Trainstation
- Local Railways (Lokalbahn Wien-Baden)
- Wiener Linien (http://www.wienerlinien.co.at/) (Company operating U-Bahn, trams, and most bus routes)
Vienna has an extensive tram network, which is one of the largest in the world, and also large number of bus routes. As all routes in densely populated areas operated at dense intervals, even during off-peak hours, it usually not necessary to remmber the time when the train or bus goes. Public transportation is thus used quite a lot.
The Viennese public transport is connected to services of train and bus lines operating 50 kilometres into the surrounding countryside, which can be used under the same system of tickets.
Public transportation mostly closes during night hours, but there is a special bus service, the Nightline, operating on the most important routes. However, those buses go only every thirty minutes.
In Vienna there are also two park railways: the Liliputbahn Prater in the Viennese Prater and the Donauparkbahn in Danube Park.
Railways Historically, all traffic facilities were oriented towards the main capitals and residential cities of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy consequently, Vienna has several train stations that form the beginning of several train lines: - Vienna Franz Josefs Station is the starting point of the Franz Josefs Railway
- Vienna West Station is starting point of the West Railway
- Vienna South Station (Former South and East Station) for the South Railway and the East Railway
as well as several through train stations: - Vienna Hütteldorf on the West Railway
- Vienna Heiligenstadt on the Franz Josefs Railway
- Vienna North (Viennese lines: Praterstern) on the North Railway. The convenient North Station was destroyed in World War II and was not built again after the decay of the Danube monarchy, especially when the Iron Curtain closed almost all passenger traffic to the north.
- Vienna Meidling (Philadelphia bridge) - South Railway
- Vienna Central (Landstraße)
Between these, there are still many smaller stations that are particularly important for local passenger traffic.
In order to bundle all long-distance traffic it has become necessary to build a tunnel, colloquially known as the Wildschweintunnel ("boar tunnel"), underneath Lainzer Tiergarten linking the West Railway to the South Railway. The new bundled train line will connect to a new train station called Vienna-Central Europe that will be constructed somewhat to the south of today's South Station. This new station will give Vienna a main train station for the first time.
Road traffic - To be translated from here (http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wien#Straßenverkehr)
Like the train lines, the old freeways (Late Federal Highways) leave the city in a star shapped pattern. They are designated after their final destination (Prager Straße -- to Prague, Linzer Straße -- to Linz, Triester Straße -- to Trieste and Brünner Straße -- to Brno).
Air traffic Southeast of Vienna is Vienna International Airport. In 2003, there were over 197,000 separate flights departing or arriving, and the airport was used by 12.8 million passengers.
Naval transportation - To be translated from here (http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wien#Schifffahrt)
Vienna is connected to water by the Rhine-Main-Danube canal via the port in Rotterdam and its nearby German Industrial areas, as well as Eastern European countries up to the Black Sea. The planned Danube-Oder canal remains unfinished.
Leisure activities
Nightlife - To be translated from here (http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wien#Nachtleben)
Viennese coffeehouses - Translated from here (http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wien#Wiener_Kaffeehaus)
Yet another unique aspect of Viennese culture is represented by the Viennese Coffeehouse, in which is served both a number of coffee-based speciality drinks and light snacks. A number of visitors will take advantage of the opportunity during their visit to read through the typically rich selection of newspapers available. In addition to the many modern chrome-brightened 'Espressi', a number of 'real' Vienna coffeehouses still exist to maintain the original charm of this institution.
Viennese parks and greenspace - To be translated from here (http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wien#Wiener_Parks_und_Grünanlagen)
Sport - To be translated from here (http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wien#Sport)
Vienna has become a popular host of many different sporting events including the Vienna City Marathon, which attracts more than 10,000 participants every year and normally takes place in May. In 2005 the Ice Hockey World Championships will take place in Austria, with the final being played in Vienna. After already being the stage of four Champions League (originally European Champion Clubs' Cup) finals (1964, 1987, 1990, 1995) the final of Euro 2008, the European Football Championships, will take place in Vienna's Ernst Happel Stadium.
Austria's capital is also the home of numerous sports teams. The best known of them are the local football clubs FK Austria Wien (22 time Austrian national champions) and SK Rapid Wien (30 time Austrian national champions). Other important clubs are the Chrysler Vikings Vienna (American Football), who won the Eurobowl title as Europe's best American Football team in 2004, the Vienna Hot Volleys, one of Europe's premier Volleyball-organisations, and the Vienna Capitals (Ice Hockey).
Native Vienese - Alfred Adler, founder of individual psychology
- Ilse Aichinger, writer
- Wolfgang Ambros, one of the founders of Austropop
- André Asriel, composer
- Carl Auer von Welsbach, chemist
- Alban Berg, composer
- Ludwig Boltzmann, physicist
- Arik Brauer, painter, singer, and poet
- Martin Buber, philosopher
- Georg Danzer, song writer
- Elfi von Dassanowsky, singer, pianist, film producer
- Heimito von Doderer, writer
- Peter Drucker, economist
- Albert Ehrenstein, writer
- Falco, singer and musician
- Viktor Frankl, psychologist, neurologist, founder of Logo Therapy
- Karl von Frisch, zoologist, animal psychologist, bee keeper, Nobel Prize Winner
- Franz Grillparzer, playwright
- Friedrich Hayek, economist, Nobel Prize Winner
- Hugo von Hofmannsthal, writer, founder of the Salzburger Festspiele
- Friedensreich Hundertwasser, artist, architect, painter
- Ernst Jandl, poet and writer
- Franz König, Cardinal Archbishop
- Gustav Klimt, painter
- Karl Kraus, satirist, publisher of "Die Fackel"
- Wolfgang Kraus, essayist, leader for many years of the Österreichische Gesellschaft für Literatur
- Karl Landsteiner, doctor, bacteriaologist, discoverer of blood group, Nobel Prize Winner
- Fritz Lang, director
- Joseph Lanner, composer
- Niki Lauda, race car driver and entrepreneur
- B.M. Leser-Lasario, singer
- Leopold Lindtberg, director
- Konrad Lorenz, behavioural scientist, Nobel Prize Winner
- Friederike Mayröcker, writer
- Lise Meitner, physicist
- Johann Nestroy, playwright
- Karl Popper, philosopher
- Helmut Qualtinger, actor, writer, cabaret actor
- Ferdinand Raimund, play writer
- Alma Rosé, violin virtuoso, killed in Auschwitz
- Arthur Schnitzler, story teller and playwright
- Arnold Schönberg, composer, music theorist, painter
- Erwin Schrödinger, physicist, Nobel Prize WInner
- Franz Schubert, composer
- Erwin Steinhauer, actor
- Johann Strauss I, composer
- Johann Strauss II, composer
- Johann Georg Stuwer, fireworks foreman
- Friedrich Torberg, writer and journalist
- Otto Wagner, architect
- Anton von Webern, composer
- Otto Weininger, philosopher
- Ludwig Wittgenstein, philosopher
- Joe Zawinul, jazz pianist, keyboard player, and composer
- Stefan Zweig, writer
Culinary specialities - To be translated from here (http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wien#Kulinarische_Spezialitäten)
Tourist attractions Among the most important places of interest are: - Innercity
- Hofburg Imperial Palace
- Kahlenberg
- Parlament
- Ringstraße
- Schönbrunn Palace and palace garden
- Belvedere Palace
- Stephansdom
- Tiergarten Schönbrunn
- Wiener Prater with the ferris wheel, a local recreation area and Wurstelprater and the Schweizerhaus beer garden
other tourist attractions:
International organisations in Vienna - To be translated from here (http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wien#Internationale_Organisationen_mit_Sitz_in_Wien)
Twin cities Vienna is twinned with the following cities: In addition, individual Viennese districts are twinned with Japanese cities/districts:
See also
External links - Vienna interactive guide (http://www.your-friend.info/englisch/index.htm) www.your-friend.info
- Vienna (http://www.wien.gv.at/english/) www.wien.gv.at
- Photo-Gallery (mit Diashow) (http://www.strausbach.de/wien_photo.php)
- Hundertwasser House Vienna (http://www.hundertwasserhaus.at/) www.Hundertwasserhaus.at
- Gasometer Vienna (http://www.gasometer.org/en/)
- Vienna travel guide at Wikitravel (http://wikitravel.org/en/article/Vienna)
- Hotels in Vienna (http://vienna.tiscover.at/) Vienna Hotel and Accommodation Information
- Events.at (http://www.events.at/) Very useful event calendar for what's going on in Vienna at the moment
- Vienna Metroblog (http://vienna.metblogs.com/) blogging culture and life in Vienna.
- Virtual Vienna Net (http://www.virtualvienna.net/) Vienna's International Community Online
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